Advice on repainting a bust

[Timzor]

I'm new to this forum and to the world of statues in general. I'm getting ready to start on my first project, and would appreciate any advice you could give me.

I have a fairly cheap cold cast resin bust/paperweight of Raven from the Teen Titans animated series. The quality is not that great, and the paint job in particular is awful. However, the most glaring error is that the cloak is the wrong color. It should be dark blue, as seen here. (Also, her face should be hidden in shadow, like in the picture, but I'm not really sure that's something I can correct).
So, I've decided to repaint it. My initial plan was to just buy a jar of dark blue Model Master acrylic paint from my local Hobby Lobby, slap a coat or two on the cloak, and call it a day. However, I suspect that it might be a little more complicated than that, at least if I want to get decent results. Also, the more I look at it, the more I realize that the entire thing needs to be repainted, as it was very sloppily done.

So what would be the proper procedure to repaint this? Will I need to strip off the layer of paint that it already has? Do I need to sand it or user primer? Is there a particular type of paint I should be using? Any instructions or general advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

I have attached a photo I took of the bust so you can see what a poor paint job it has. Seriously, it looks like it was done by a child. I hope that with your advice, I can do a better job.

[Voshizle@gmail.]

Welcome to the forum!
Well seeing as how this piece is mostly smooth and doesn't have a whole lot of intricate detail stripping into probably isn't 100% necessary. If you do want to though, it can be done by putting it in a big ziplock and spraying oven cleaning in and letting it sit. Stripped or not you are going to want to prime it so the new paint has something to hold on to. It sounds like you plan on hand painting it instead of using an airbrush, and if you don't already have a preferred brand of paint I recommend Vallejo game color paint. Hope my ramblings helped and feel free to ask more questions.

[Timzor]

Originally Posted by Voshizle@gmail.

Welcome to the forum!
Well seeing as how this piece is mostly smooth and doesn't have a whole lot of intricate detail stripping into probably isn't 100% necessary. If you do want to though, it can be done by putting it in a big ziplock and spraying oven cleaning in and letting it sit. Stripped or not you are going to want to prime it so the new paint has something to hold on to. It sounds like you plan on hand painting it instead of using an airbrush, and if you don't already have a preferred brand of paint I recommend Vallejo game color paint. Hope my ramblings helped and feel free to ask more questions.

Thank you for the kind welcome.
I suppose it's good that the statue is pretty smooth and detail-free, hopefully that will make it easier to paint for a beginner like me.
Although stripping it isn't quite 100% necessary, do you think I'd get better results if I did strip it?

The only problem with stripping it would be that sticker-thing on the base that has her name on it. I guess I'd have to pop it off, and glue it back on when I was finished. Any idea how I might loosen the glue on it, so I can take it off without damaging it?

I do plan on hand-painting it. I'm not ready to invest in the tools necessary for airbrushing at this time. Thank you for the suggestion on the brand of paint. Do you know of any place I might be able to find it? Or the primer you mentioned? Like I said, I'm new to all this, and fairly clueless as to where to even find the tools of the trade.

Oh, and do you have any tips on masking? I'm worried I don't have a steady enough hand to keep from painting the wrong areas...

[Voshizle@gmail.]

As far as stripping goes, it's kind of up to you. On something like this, as long as the original paint isn't really thick I think you should be fine just priming it and painting right over it.
No idea on the sticker, personally I'd just redo it when you paint the statue. It wouldn't be too hard to make a stencil.
For primer I usually just go to Ace Hardware or Wal-Mart. The primer doesn't need to be fancy at all but a lot of people (myself included) like sandable auto primer. I would check hobby stores (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Hobbytown USA etc.) for Vallejo paints, or paint in general.
I personally don't mask at all when I'm handpainting, but you can use blue painter's tape. Check some of the WIPs in the painters corner and I'm sure you'll see some examples of masking.

[Timzor]

Originally Posted by Voshizle@gmail.

As far as stripping goes, it's kind of up to you. On something like this, as long as the original paint isn't really thick I think you should be fine just priming it and painting right over it.
No idea on the sticker, personally I'd just redo it when you paint the statue. It wouldn't be too hard to make a stencil.
For primer I usually just go to Ace Hardware or Wal-Mart. The primer doesn't need to be fancy at all but a lot of people (myself included) like sandable auto primer. I would check hobby stores (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Hobbytown USA etc.) for Vallejo paints, or paint in general.
I personally don't mask at all when I'm handpainting, but you can use blue painter's tape. Check some of the WIPs in the painters corner and I'm sure you'll see some examples of masking.

Great, thanks for all the tips. So, I take it the primer needs to be sanded after it is applied? Do you have any tips on the process, such as wet vs. dry sanding, and what grit to use?

[skorpsta]

i have done alot of repaints you view them in my signature link..what i do is when i repaint a statue and there is no sanding or prep work involved. i prime the whole statue first {make sure its a laquer base primer} i use plasti kote automotive sandable primer white or grey it sprays on smooth and nice..make sure you spray light coats...i hardly sandit after i prime it let dry for 24 hours. then beging painting with acrylic paints { i use delta ceramocote, americana,and folkart acrylic paints youcan get these at micheals. i also use vallejo model acrylic colors when hand brushing the vallejo are great they leave hardly any brush strokes you can get themon ebay. if you are airbrushing make sure you thin your paints with water and airbrush thinner to the consitance of milk. when its all done you have to seal the paint..i love the dull finish so i use testors dull coat, if you want a gloss you can use gloss coat. i also use krylon matte acrylic finish gives it a not so dull coat more of a matte and i use krylon crystal clear acrylic gloss coat. let dry for a couple of hours. goodluck and happy painting.

[skorpsta]

view this thread and all the posts there are so many painting model videos in this
thread....http://www.statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=112419

[Timzor]

Thanks for the tips and the links, skorpsta. It looks like you've done some really great repaints.

[skorpsta]

Originally Posted by Timzor

Thanks for the tips and the links, skorpsta. It looks like you've done some really great repaints.

thanks..alot i tried to keep people happy with my work. thanks again.